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RECONSTRUCTION. 



SPEECH 



HON. WILLIAM E. FINCK. OF OHIO. 



DELIVERED 



IN THE HOUSE OF EEPRESENTATIVES, 



DECEMBER 21, 1865. 



The House having resolvejl itself into the Commit- 
tee of the Whole on the stateof the Union, (Mr. Boot- 
well in the chair,) and proceeded to the consideration 
of the President's annual message — 

Mr. FIN CK said: 

Mr. Chairmax: When the Thirtj' - Eighth 
Congress adjourned, large armies were in the 
field resisting the authority and jurisdiction 
of" the United States. We were then in the 
midst of the most terrible civil war that has 
ever afflicted any people. Sir, I congratulate 
you, and I congratulate the country, on the fact 
that this war has terminated successfully to the 
arms of the Federal Government, and that to- 
day there is not a single arm raised to resist the 
authority of the United States, within the limits 
of the Republic. Peace once more blesses the 
American people. But, sir, allow me to inquire 
'why it is that the States which have not been 
represented here for the last four years, still con- 
tinue unrepresented on this floor ? Is it possible 
that, having failed successfully to resist the ju- 
risdiction of the United States, and break uj) 
the Union, that they now stubbornly refuse to 
send representatives to the national Legislature, 
and to return to their duties and obligations to 
the Federal Govern in ent? No, sir; such is not 
the case. The people of these States, having 
foiled in the mad schemes organized by their 
leaders, have wisely and really abandoned all 
further resistance, and have, with a unanimity 
and frankness worthy of the highest commen- 
dation, determined to yield a cheerful obedience 
to the Constitution and laws of the United 
States, and to discharge their duties and obli- 
gations as loyal citizens. Why, then, sir, are 
they not represented on this floor? 

Sir, during the continuance of the late terrible 



struggle, I looked forward with the most hopeful 
expectations to the period when the war should 
cease by the complete vindication of the national 
authority, and all the States be represented 
once more in this Hall. We have, by the bless- 
ing of Heaven, lived to see the termination of 
the war, but we meet in a time of profound 
peace, and find that eleven of the States of this 
Union have no Rejjresentatives on this floor. 
Sir, allow me again to inquire why this is so? 

Mr. Chairman, it is because there exists 
within this Union a body of men who are to- 
day, as they have always been, opposed to the 
Union, unless they can mold and shape its 
policy to suit their peculiar views. Can it be 
possible, sir, that after a struggle of four years, 
after the sacrifice of half a million of brave and 
heroic men, and the expenditure of four thou- 
sand millions of treasure, after the war has been 
brought to successful termination, and the flag 
of the Union, and none other, floats from the 
Capitol of every State, still nearly one third of 
the States are to be deprived of representation 
in the national councils? 

Sir, I protest against this attempt to subvert 
the true principles of this Government, and 
thus seek to separate States from it which be- 
long to it, and to preserve v/hich, a four years' 
war has been waged. What was the avowed 
and proclaimed object of the war? For what 
did our brave and gallant men fight and die? 
It was, sir, to preserve this glorious Union, to 
maintain and vindicate the jurisdiction of the 
United States. This was distinctly and plainly 
announced in the resolution passed, by almost 
entire unanimity at the extra session of Con- 
gress in 1861, in these patriotic words: 

"That in this national emergency, Congress will 






forget all feelings of mere passion or resentment, and 
H'lil recollect only its duty to the country; that the 
v.'ar is not waged on our inirt in any spirit of oppres- 
i^U)u, nor in any spirit of conquest or subjugation, nor 
for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with 
the rights or established institutions of those States, 
but to defend and maintain thesupremacy of the Con- 
ititution and preserve the Union with all thedignity, 
Cviuality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; 
and as soon as these objects are attained the war ought 
to cease." 

The great issue submitted to the settlement 
of the sword was that of the Union. The in- 
surgents sought to break it up, a;id the United 
States sought to preserve and maintain it. Our 
arms triumphed, and our jjurpose was accom- 
plished, namely, the preservation of the Union. 

The States which passed ordinances of seces- 
sion, and attempted to withdrawfrom the Union, 
liMve foiled in their purposes. They have never 
been out of the Union, but have always con- 
tinued to be, and are to-day, States within the 
Union. 

This doctrine I understand the distinguished 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Stevens] 
controverts ; and in his speech delivered on last 
Monday, takes the same ground which he an- 
nounced in his speech, delivered in this House 
two years ago, namely, that the insurgent States, 
by their acts of secession and organized rebel- 
lion, became a separate government ; that they 
were outside of the Union ; and their armies hav- 
ing been defeated and conquered, we now hold 
these States as conquered territories, and that 
this Government has the right, by the law of 
nations, to treat the people of these States as a 
subjugated people; and that before they can 
resume their former relations with the General 
Government, these States must be readmitted 
into the Union as new States. 

Sir, the distinguished gentleman by his argu- 
ment has admitted that secession was an ac- 
complished fact, and has added another exam- 
ple to the common saying, that extremes meet ; 
for his views on this point coincide with those 
of the most rabid secessionists. 

The gentleman has recognized l)y liis argu- 
ment, that most dangerous of political heresies, 
the right of secession, which is at war with the 
safety and perpetuity of the union of these States. 
I deny, sir, that these States, or either of them, 
were ever out of the Union. The Union has 
never been, and I most earnestly trust never 
will be, dissolved. The ordinances of seces- 
sion were invalid and unconstitutional, and no 
force which was brought by those in rebellion 
to sustain these acts could give them legality. 

The gentleman has quoted from writers on the 
law of nations, to show that a war between 
two nations annuls and abrogates the treaties 
wliicli had existed between the belligerents. 
Sir, these States were not held together by the 
force of treaties, but by a Constitution adopted, 
and assented to, by each of them, and by their 
people through their conventions. 

It is however true, that when a civil war 
breaks out between different members of the 



same Government, the contending parties are 
each entitled while the war continues to the 
rights and usages of war, as against each other. 
This, sir, is a rule of necessity, andisctictated by 
the soundest principles of humanity and Chris- 
tian civilization. The doctrine is thus laid down 
by Mr. Wheaton in his learned work on Inter- 
national Law, page 520: 

"_A civil war between different members of the same 
society, is what Grotius calls a mixed war; it is accord- 
ing to him public on the side of the established Gov- 
ernment, and private on the part of the people resist- 
ing its authority. But the general usage of nations 
regards such a war as entitling both the contending 
parties to all the rights of war as against each other, 
and even as respects neutral nations." 

But I deny that there is anything in this 
sound and necessary principle of public law 
which implies in a case like ours, that the late 
insurgent States were outside of the Union, or 
constituted a distinct or foreign nation. In all 
our cartels for the exchange of prisoners, we 
were governed by the principles laid down in 
Wheaton. 

But the gentleman would have us to believe 
that it was just as absurd "to say that the States 
could not go out of the Union, because the 
Constitution forbids it, as it would be to say, 
in a case of deliberate murder, that no murder 
was committed, because the law forbids that 
crime. 

Sir, I most respectfully submit that the cases 
are not at all similar ; and the illustration does 
not in the least aid the gentleman's argument. 
In the case of murder which he puts, the crime 
was actually committed, and the murder had 
taken place. If it had been a mere assault 
with intent to commit murder, and the person 
assauked was not killed, it would not have con- 
stituted tlie crime of murder. So in relation 
to these States. It was on their part an at- 
tempt to withdraw from the Union, which was 
resisted and prevented ; and the act of seces- 
sion was not, and could not, be consummated, 
excejjt by the success of the rebellion, but that 
having been defeated, the secession of these 
States was thus prevented from becoming a 
consummated act. . 

But when the gentleman further argues that 
we have conquered tiie people of Ishe late in- 
surgent States, and have the right by the law of 
nations to impose upon them such conditions as 
may be imposed by the conqueror on a subju- 
gated people, he forgets the real character of 
the late struggle. It was not a war with a for- 
eign nation. It was a struggle to preserve the 
just power and jurisdiction of the United States, 
and maintain the Union. Our jurisdiction had 
been ousted over a portion of the Republic by 
an armed and organized force ; and we exerted 
force to remove this resistance, and reassert 
our rightful jurisdiction, which had thus been 
invaded. We have successfully overcome that 
resistance, and can now enforce the laws of the 
United States in every poi'tion of the Union. 
We have not by the war gained a particle more 

West. Eos. BLiBli. Soe. 



jurisdiction or power than we enjoyed and ex- 
ercised before the war commenced. We have 
merely vindicated the right to exercise that 
i'. , jurisdiction and authority which we asserted 
ri before secession was attempted. It is not at 
all similar to a war with a foreign Power, in 
which we have conquered territory from the 
enemy. In such a case we would have ob- 
tained power and jurisdiction over a territory 
and its inhabitants, which we did not have at 
the commencement of the war ; but in oui- late 
struggle Ave have acquired no new power or 
jurisdiction, but simply have regained firmly 
the power and jurisdiction of which the insur- 
gents sought by the rebellion to deprive us. ' 

While the war lasted, it became necessary, in 
the true interests of humanity, that it should 
be conducted according to the rules of enlight- 
ened Christian nations ; but now that the war 
has ended, and the people of these States ha%'e 
submitted tothe rightful jurisdiction of the Uni- 
ted States, and returned to their duty, the rules 
of war no longer are to be invoked ; but we are 
to look to the monp appropriate and peaceful 
remedies, for all tiiat remains yet to be done, 
to the Constitution of the United States. Sir, 
we do not hold these States as conquered ter- 
ritories, because they have always been, and 
continue still to be. States within the Union. 

While I must admire the boldness and con- 
sistency of the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
in adhering to his cherished doctrine, that these 
States were out of the Union, yet I would fail 
in ray duty to myself and my constituents, if I 
did not denounce it, as most dangerous to the 
prosperity and harmony of this' Union. 

After the war commenced, and after the sev- 
eral States,had passed their ordinances of seces- 
sion, repeated acts of Congress were passed 
based on the principle that all the States were in 
the Union. 

Allow me to refer to the act approved March 
4, 1862, fixing the number of members for the 
House of Representatives from and after the 
3d day of March, 1863 : 

"Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Represent- 
atives of the United States of America in Congress as- 
sembled. That from and after the 3d day of March, 
1863* the number of membersof the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the Congress of the United States shall 
be two hundred and forty-one; and the ei^ht addi- 
tional members shall be assigned one each to Penn- 
sylvania,, Ohio. Kentucky, Illinois, lojpfa, Minnesota, 
Vermont, and-.Rhode Island." 

Let me inquire how this number of two hun- 
dred and forty-one is made up? We have not 
two hundred and forty-one members in this 
House. Sir, it was by allowing Virginia eight, 
Tennessee eight, Georgia seven. North Caro- 
lina seven. South Carolina four, Arkansas 
three, Louisiana five, Mississippi five, Alabama 
six, Florida one, and Texas four. This act 
was passed while the rebellion existed, and is 
the law of the land to-day. Was tliis law con- 
stitutional, and did these eleven States, on the 
4th day of March, 1862, compose a part of the 



Union? Other States are to-day. jepresented 
on this floor under the provisions ef this act of 
the Thiity-Seventii Congress. 

But again, section tliree, article four, of the 
Constitution of the United States, provides 
that— 

"No new State shall bo formed or erected within 
the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State bo 
formed by the jinictionof two or more States, or i)a,rts 
of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of 
the States concerned, as well as of the Congress." 

Let me ask how, under this provision of the 
Constitutionj the act admitting West Virginia 
was jsassed? If by the act of secession the 
State of Virginia ceased to be a State within 
the Union, how could the consent of the Legis- 
lature of that State be obtained for the creation 
of West Virginia? But we find by the act ad- 
mitting West Virginia that it is recited in its 
preamble, that — 

"The Legislature of Virginia by an act passed on 
tiie 13th of May. 1862, did give its_ consent to the for- 
mation of a now State within the jurisdiction of said 
State of Virginia." 

There was, then, at that time, such a State as 
Virginia recognized, and if I am not mistaken 
the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania 
voted for the act admitting West Virginia. I 
do not say that Virginia did give her consent 
to the formation of a new State within her 
boundary. I only refer to these transactions 
of the past to shov/ that these States, after the 
acts of secession were passed, and during tlie 
continuance of the war, were regarded as within 
the Union. 

But itisunneces-garj' to cite further instances 
of legislation to prove the position of the hon- 
orable gentleman to be wholly untenable. 

There is, however, one instance in our his- 
tory 2")lain to the American people, and recog- 
nized by the whole civilized world, which seems 
to me to settle the stofzt? of these States beyond 
controversy, and that is, sir, the fact that An- 
drew Johnson, a citizen of Tennessee, is the 
President of the United States, and is so recog- 
nized by every department of the State and 
Federal Governments, and by the nations of the 
world. 

Sir, if the doctrine maintained and advocated 
b)^ the distinguished gentleman from Pennsyl- 
vania be sound, then there is no such State as 
Tennessee within this Union, and Andrew John- 
son is not constitutionally President of the Uni- 
ted States. Are gentlemen on the other side 
willing to sanction doctrines which lead to this 
result? The Constitution provides, article tv.o, 
section one, that — 

" No person except a natural-born citizen, or a cit- 
izen of the United States at the time of the adoption 
of this Constitution, shall be eligible tothe office of 
President; neither shall any person be eligible to that 
office who shall not have attained the age of tliivty- 
fivc years, and been fourteen years a resident within 
the United States." 

At the time of the election of Andrew .John- 
son as Vice President, he was a citizen of the 
State of Tennessee, but if the State of Tennes 



4 



see Tvas not a State within this Union, as tlie 
learned gentleman insists, then Andrew JoKn- 
son was not a citizen of the United States, and 
not eligible to the office which he holds. 

But what follows if the doctrine contended 
for 1)3' the honorable gentleman is erroneous? 
Why, that the Union has never been dissolved; 
that the attempt to break it up has failed ; that 
the sacrifices of our brave and heroic Arm}' 
have preserved to us this glorious heritage of 
our fathers ; that not a single star liaS been 
blotted out, and that the flag which floats over 
this Capitol of the people of all the States, with 
every star still blazoned on its ample folds, 
still continues to be the true emblem of the 
union all of the States. 

Sir, more than this; if these States are in 
the Union, if they have never been out of it, as 
I contend, then, sir, they are in the Union as 
equal States, with all the rights and privileges 
which belong to States in this Union, and are 
entitled to be represented on this floor by the 
same authority as the States of Pennsjdvania 
and Ohio. Sir, there was much in the able 
speech of the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
which seemed to me not equal to the dignity of 
the great question which he discussed. His 
allusion to "copperheads," and the imputation 
of purposes of bad faith in regard to the pulj- 
lic debt, could lend no weight to his argument, 
and were only calculated to arouse feelings 
of bitterness and recrimination, which are not 
calculated to aid in the elucidation of great 
constitutional questions, or to develop wise and 
healthy legislation. The allusion of the dis- 
tinguished gentleman to the late Chief Justice, 
filled me with pain and surprise. No purer 
name or more ujiright and honest jurist adorns 
the long list of the great men of America, of 
whom we are so justly proud. With a charac- 
ter unsullied, and a conscientious devotion to 
duty, he discharged every trust with the strictest 
fidelity. His eminent learning and services 
will be remembered and cherished by the good 
and virtuous as long as our history and Amer- 
ican jurisprudence shall be studied. 

I am, sir, in favor of the admission of mem- 
bers from the States now unrepresented on this 
floor. The people of these States, it seems to 
me, ha,ve acquiesced v/ith great unanimity and 
with sincerity in the condition of things which 
the war has brought upon them. They have aban- 
doned slavery and surrendered it up as one of 
the things of the past, never, never again to be 
reestablished. They have abandoned the claim 
toanyright, orpretense of any rightof secession, 
and with entire unanimity acknowledged the su- 
preme jurisdiction of the General Government 
in all matters which have been vested in it by 
the Constitution of the United States. They 
have resolved for the future to be true citizens 
of the Union. 

And now v/hat should be the conduct of this 
Government toward these people? Shall a 



state of discord and acrimonious feeling, almosl 
as intense as that which existed during the war, 
be continued? Is it by such means as these 
that fraternal relations are to be restored be- 
tween the sections ? No, no, let all those evil 
feelings give way before the jjeaceful smiles of 
a once more united and patriotic people. Let 
us as far as possible forget the past, and gen- 
erously welcome the return of our southern 
brethren. Let no mean partisan or sectional 
feelings or jealousies longer keep us asunder. 
Let it indeed be a union of hearts as well as of 
hands. 

Representing as I do as intelligent, lo3fal, and 
patriotic a constituency as any within the Union, 
1 feel it not only a duty, but a pleasure, to give 
my feeble aid in binding up the wounds of the 
countiy, and to make use of every legitimate 
means of once more cementing the bonds of a 
Union, which I trust may be perpetual. Sir, 
the surest means of preserving our cherished 
Union is in the exercise of mutual charity and 
forbearance ; in a faithful observance of the 
just rights of the people oftthe several States, 
and a considerate regard for the feelings, hab- 
its, views, and, it may be, the prejudices of the 
different sections, so far as the same do not 
violate the Constitution of the United States. 

Sir, slavery is out of the way ; pray let us not 
quarrel about what policy the States may see 
fit to adopt in regard to the question of sufi^i-age. 
I have never been the fi-iend or advocate of 
slavery. I have always regarded it as an evil, 
but an evil which, in my opinion, the States 
alone could remove ; but it has ceased to exist, 
and certainly no man vi^ho could in the least 
influence the public mind will be found wild 
enough to advocate its reestablishment. The 
discussion of the question of slavery which has 
for so many years disturbed the deliberations 
of the American Congress, and which has been 
the parent of so much excitement and sectional 
bitterness, should no longer disturb our delib- 
erations. 

Sir, no one will be more gratified than myself 
to witness an advancement in the conduct, intel- 
ligence, and virtue of the emancipated race, 
equal to the most ^ sanguine anticipatioi^s of 
those who have so long demanded their freedom. 
Whether the colored race, by their industry, 
morality, and good conduct, shall show them- 
selves worthy to be admitted to the exercise 
and enjoyment of more political privileges than 
they now enjoy, is a question which must be 
left to the exclusive judgment of the States in 
which they reside. For myself, as a Represent- 
ative from the State of Ohio, I disclaim any 
right whatever to interfere in these questions 
in any of the States ; and as a citizen of that 
State, I am free to say, while I have no ill 
feeling toward the negro, I shall ever oppose 
conferring upon him the right of suffrage in 
Ohio. 

But, sir, I repeat it, these are questions which 



must be left to the exclusive determination of 
the several States ; and the attempt to deprive 
certain States from being represented on this 
floor because the negro is not allowed to vote 
within such States is a bold conspiracy to sub- 
vert one of the plainest rights which belong to 
the States. If you do not intend that these 
States shall be represented in this Congress, 
pray, sir, tell me in what Congress they are to 
be represented? AVhat do you propose to do 
with them in the mean time? Are they' to be 
held as Poland is held by Russia, as Hungary 
is held by Austria, or as Ireland is held by 
Great Britain? Are the principles of the old 
Constitution to be abandoned, and the whole 
character of our system of government changed, 
in order that the white men of eleven States 
may be disfranchised, and the negro clothed 
with political rights? Is it possible, sir, that 
within the limits of our Republic white men 
will combine to degrade their own race and 
kindred in order to confer political j^ower into 
the hands of black men? 

Sir, I deny the right of this Congress, or of 
the Federal Government, either directly or in- 
directly, to regurlate the right of the elective 
franchise within the several States. No such 
power has been conferred upon it. We must, 
if we expect to continue our free system of 
Government, agree, like frank and candid men, 
that there is no difference in the rights of the 
several States of this Union ; that each State 
is the equal of the other, and has the same 
rights and privileges ; and if you can interfere 
by the General Government, to regulate the 
question of the elective franchise in North Caro- 
lina, you may by the same power regulate the 
same question in Massachusetts and Ohio. 

The Federal Government cannot dictate to 
the States in this matter of suffrage. The Con- 
stitution of the United States, second section 
of article one, declares that — 

"The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of members chosen every second year by the people 
of the several States, and the electors in each State 
shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of 
the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures." 

The qualifications of electors of members of 
the Legislatures of the States have been fixed 
and regulated from the earliest period of the 
adoption of government by the American peo- 
ple, by each State for itself, and the section 
already quoted expressly recognizes this right 
as belonging exclusively to the States. 

Sir, the claim to regulate the elective franchise 

'in the States unrepresented on this floor cannot 
be sustained upon any other theory than that 
advocated by the gentleman from Pennsylvania, 
namely, that these States, whose people were 

^lately in revolt, were actually out of the Union ; 
that the Union was broken up and dismembered, 
and that we have conquered these States, and re- 
duced them to Territories. But again, we have 
been told that the people of these States rnust 
remain unrepresented until they exhibit signs 



of true loyalty. How long; five, ten, or thirty 

years? 

Charles Sumner tells us that time is neces- 
sary. He says in ins speech of Septemljcr 14, 
1865, before "the Republican State convention 
of Massachusetts, that — 

" For thirty years and more this wick edncss! was ma- 
turinpr. Who can say that the same time will not be 
needed now to mature conditions of pernianent])eace? 
Who can say that aKcneration must not elapse before 
these rebel eomijiunities have been so far changed as 
to become safe associates in a commo,n Government?" 

And again, in the same speech, he says: 

"As those who have fought against us should be 
disfranchised, so those who fought for us should be < 
enfranchised." * * * * " For awhile the 
freedman will take the placcof the master, thus veri- 
fying the saying that the last shall be first and the first 
shall be last." 

Another distinguished citizen of the same 
State, General Butler, has told us in a speech 
which ho has made somewhere in Massachu- 
setts, that we have full power in our own hands, 
and that we can refuse to let a State be repre- 
sented until the State shall permit the colored 
man to vote. And this seems to be the scheme 
of the radicals, who are seeking to defeat the 
policy of a patriotic Executive to heal up the 
wounds of the country, and bring all the States 
together again in this House of the people's 
Representatives. I trust that conservative gen- 
tlemen on the other side will not be overawed 
by the Senator from Massachusetts and the dis- 
tinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania. 

Sir, the southern people have erred deeply 
and terribly, Init have they not also most griev- 
ously sufi'ered ? No brave or gallant man would 
at a time like this cry out for more punishment 
upon this people. A magnanimous people, 
and a great and magnanimous Government will 
not allow it. Now, that the war has ended, 
every honest effort should be made by all true 
citizens to restore friendly relations between 
the di&erent sections, and cement more firmly 
than ever the bonds of the Union. Allfurther 
effort to punish this people by the forfeiture of 
their political rights should end, except in so 
far as the public interests may imperatively 
demand punishment; and then let it be in ac- 
cordance with the Constitution and laws of the 
land. If indeed we have peace, let it be a peace 
in reality. Let our conduct be such as will be 
approved by that calm, deliberate, and thought- 
ful public opinion of the Christian and civil- 
ized world, which will most assuredly pass its 
judgment on the conduct of our Government. 
Sir, I am glad to be able to say here to-day 
that in the main I approve the course and policy 
of the President on this question ; and shall feel 
it my duty to give him my support in every 
proper and constitutional effort to restore to 
these States their just rights, and to heal up the 

j wounds which have been inflicted upon the 
country. It is indeed a liigh and noble mis- 
sion in which the Executive is engaged, and I 

I regret to find he has not the cordial support of 



6 



the distinguished gcntleaian from Pennsylvania, 
and those who concur in the views of that gen- 
tleman as announced on last Monday. Is^ow 
that the war is over ; since we have vindicated 
before the world the ability of this Government 
to maintain itself and to preserve the Union, it 
seems to me that it is the duty of every public 
man to study, without partisan bitterness, the 
remedies best adapted to restore quiet and con- 
fidence to the country, and to show to the world, 
that while this Government is' determined to 
maintain the integrity of .the Union, cost what 
it may, and to crush with a strong hand all op- 
position to its rightful authority, so, too, in the 
hour of triumph, when the opposition to the 
Government has surrendered, and given evi- 
dence of its return to obedience, that we know 
how to practice that generous clemency and 
kindness which cannot fail to win back the 
affections of these people, many of whom have 
been misguided and deceived ; and thus exhibit 
to the world that our people are as much dis- 
tinguished for their magnanimity and forbear- 
ance as for their gallantry and. courage. Sir, 
there is great wisdom in the noble language 
of Edmund Burke, when he exclaimed, that 
magnanimity in politics is the truest wisdom, 
and a great empire and little minds go ill 
together. 

But, sir, the great mass of the southern peo- 
ple have been included in the amnesty procla- 
mation of the President, and many who were 
not so included have since, by the action of the 
Executive, received special pardons. By what 
law or principle are you to deprive these men, 
after they have taken the oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States, from the ex- 
ercise of the right of suffrage, and the great 
constitutional right of being represented on this 
floor? Sir, you cannot rightfully thus inflict 
penalties and forfeitures upon them. 

But I insist that by the v,'ell- settled principles 
of public law the great masses of the people of 
these southern States, who did not engage in 
organizing the rebellion, and only were carried 
along v.-ith it, after it was organized, because 
they could not resist it, are not guilty of treason. 

It is a welL-settled principle of public law that 
protection and allegiance are reciprocal duties ; 
and that Government which claims allegiance, 
must afford protection. The majority of the 
people of the South were opposed to secession. 
On the direct issue made in Virginia in 1861, 
there was an overwhelming majority against it, 
and a fair vote in the other States would have 
exhibited clear majorities against secession, 
unless we should except South Carolina. And 
I ask would it not be monstrous for this Govern- 
ment which failed to protect the great masses 
of the people of the southern States from the ' 
usurpation of those who conspired to break up 
the Union, now to punish this same people with 
the most severe and grave penalties, namely, 
the forfeiture of high political rights, because 



they submitted to the usurped power which 
they were imable to resist? 

Sir, the great principle of justice, as applied by 
the common sanction of the civilized world is, 
that principle already named, that allegiance 
and protection are reciprocal duties, and the 
Government which has failed to protect any 
portion of its citizens from the usurpation of 
any other power, foreign or internal, cannot, 
when such jjoWer has been overthrown, punish 
the unfortunate people who for the time being 
were subjected to such usurped power for yield- 
ing it obedience. This doerrine is well settled 
in England, and clearly laid down by many of 
her eminent law writers. And has also been 
solemnly recognized and applied by the Supreme 
Court of^ the United States in the case of the 
United States vs. Rice, in 4 AVheaton's He- 
ports, page 246. 

Why longer delay the admission of the Rep- 
resentatives from these States? "Will it make 
their people better citizens, and inspire them 
with more love and devotion to the Govern- 
ment? Every man who understands human na- 
ture must know that such a coitrse is only calcu- 
lated to harass and annoy this people, and divert 
the public mind from the consideration of other 
questions of great interest to the country. A\hy 
refer this question to a joint committee of the 
Senate and House, when the Constitution pro- 
vides that each Hoitse shall be the judge of the 
elections, returns, and qualifications of its own 
members? Why this attempt to stifle all debate 
on a question of so much importance to the 
States and to the entire Union? 

I know gentlemen dislike to give up i^ower, 
and are alarmed at the idea that power may 
indeed pass from their hands. They may indeed 
fora while annoy and interfere with the Presi- 
dent in his patriotic efforts to unite and har- 
monize the whole country. North and South ; 
but gentlemen are mistaken if they believe they 
can defeat the purposes of the Executive. 

Sir, the people will canvass this great c^ues- 
tion, and will inquire why it is that eleven States- 
of this Union are unrepresented here; and 
sooner or later public opinion, which will sweep 
everything before it, will demand that these 
States shall be represented. The people, sir, 
will sustain the President in every honest and 
patriotic effort to discharge the grave and re- 
sponsible duties which have devolved upon him : 
and gentlemen cannot long evade the issue wliich 
has been so frankly and distinctly made by the 
honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania with 
the, policy of the Chief Executive. 

But, sir, much of this attempt to disfranchise 
the white men of eleven States unless they con- 
sent to give the ballot to the negro, (and I say 
it without intending the least disrespect to the 
able and distinguished delegation from that sec- 
tion,) comes from New England, and finds a 
zealous and able advocate in the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania. 



New England fears that, unless her policy is 
adopted, her power to control this nation will 
be lost forever, and knows that if it is sanc- 
tioned and adopted by the American people, 
she may rule this nation for generations to come. 

Sir, there is much in the history of New Eng- 
land which I admire ; she has produced many 
great and noble sons ; but there is also much 
in her history which we have to deplore — much 
in her intermeddling, narrow, uneasy, and ag- 
gressive spirit tha' '■; at war with the true inter- 
ests of the Amerii.an j^eople. She will not be 
satisfied unless she can rule and control the 
policy of this Government. If New England, 
and New England policy, can regulate and con- 
trol the question of suffrage in these eleven 
States, she believes that she may be able to con- 
trol the financial legislation of this country, and 
kindly fix the amount of our tariffs, and inter- 
nal taxes, for the next fifty years to come. Sir, 
it is a bold attempt and well worth all the effort 
that her Sumners and Phillipses can exert to ac- 
complish ; but it will fail, as it should fail,' for 
if it could succeed, the great principles of our 
system of government would be overthrown. 
It is an attempt to disfranchise our own race 
and kindred, and transfer their f)olitical power 
into the hands of another race. Can it be pos- 
sible that the prejudices, passions, and supposed 
interests of one portion of the white men of 
this Union, shall lead them so far as to attempt 
to strip their own race of political rights, in 
order to confer them upon the negro? 

Sir, let us endeavor to be equal to the great 
work before us. Instead of ijostponing the 
admission of the members from these States 
now 'asking admission, let us generously wel- 
come their return to representation in this com- 
mon sisterhood of States, and in place of at- 
tempting to confer on the negro the right of 
suffrage let us exert ourselves industriously to 
heal up all past differences, and labor to ascer- 
tain how we may best curtail the enormous 
expenditures of the Government, and reduce 
the heavy burdens of taxation, which now press 
upon the j^eople. Let us recur back to those 
wise and pure lessons of patriotism and duty 
taught us by Jefferson in his first inaugural when 
he declared the principles which he deemed 
essential to the Government: 
"Equal and exact justice to all men of v.hatever 



State or persuasion, reliprious or political: peace, com- 
merce, and honest friendship with all natiojis, entang- 
ling alliances with none; the support of the St^ito 
governments in all their rights as the most conipotent 
administrations for our domestic concerns and the 
surest bulwarks against anti-republican tciidcn'its; 
the preservation of the General (iovernmont in its 
whole constitutional vigor is the sheet-anchor of our 
peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of 
the right of election by the people, a mild and safe 
corrective of abuses which are lopped by the swoidof 
revolution where peacablc remedies are luiproviled; 
absolute acquiescence in the decisions (if the majority, 
the vital principleof republics, from which there is no 
appeal but to force, the vital princijde ancl the im- 
mediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined mili- 
tia our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments 
of war till regulars may relieve them ; the supremacy 
of the civil over the military authority; economy in 
the public expense; that labor may be lightly bur- 
dened; the honest payment of our debts: and sacred 
preservation of the public faith; encouragement of 
agriculture and of commerce as its handmaid ; the dif- 
fusion of information and arraignment of all abuses 
at the barof public reason; freedom of religion ; free- 
dom of the press, and freedom of person under the 
protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries 
impartially selected." 

If these wise principles shall guide us, v/e 
may look with confidence for a favorable solu- 
tion of all the questions submitted to our de- 
liberations; but, sir, if the radical and revolu- 
tionary measures which have been introduced 
into this House since the opening of this ses- 
sion of Congress shall commend themselves 
favorably to the majority on this floor, then 
I l^elieve that evils, serious and lamentable, 
can only arise out of this overreaching and 
constant attempt to dictate to, and regulate, the 
domestic affairs of the States. It is incompat- 
ible with our whole frame and system of gov- 
ernment. I believe this Government can be 
conducted successfully under our present Con- 
stitution, with a faithful observance and respect 
for the just powers and rights of the States ; 
and so believing, while I will most cordially 
and sincerely labor to maintain "thej^reser- 
vation of the General Government in its whole 
constitutional vigor as the sheet-anchor of our 
peace at home and safety abroad," I will also, 
with the same determination, oppose all at- 
tempts at the centralization and consolidation 
of powers in the Federal Government, which 
have not been granted to it, and labor to sup- 
port "the State governments in all their rights, 
as the most competent administrations for our 
domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks 
against anti-republican tendencies." 



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